The good news is that current fire lines are holding and being strengthened. Those evacuated from La Cienega and Ellison Creek Estates (between Bonita Creek/Tonto Village) have been allowed back into their homes.

Less and less smoke each day below the Rim, but travel restrictions are still in effect. I worry about some areas effected by this fire, but those concerns will only be shared via trusted PM's.

Was up at the Payson house this past Fri-Sun and I agree with david Vaughn. On Friday there was quite a bit of smoke still coming off the fire. Saturday was a lot less and on Sunday it was more of a haze then actual smoke. A BIG thank you to all of the fire crews in the area. Those folks are the unsung hero's.

The fire crews are awesome and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. Thanks to them we may get through the fire season with minimal watershed damage. I wish we had a way to keep idiots from starting the fires...

While I was working with Gila County Sheriff's Office, I would watch for sloppy campers. Oftentimes I would write down the license plate numbers of those in that/those camps, talking with the uncaring campers.

When asked why I was taking their license plate numbers, they would be told that should the camp be left littered beyond belief, or if a wildfire were to occur due to the campfire not being truly drowned, then the USFS would know where to send the citations and/or warrants.

They were also informed about Leave No Trace principles. Hopefully they took that information to heart on future adventure treks.

Every time, those camps I visited were left in a pristine condition the day of their departure.

I tried to get my peers to conduct similar camp visits, however they were too focused on writing speeding tickets...

The good news is that current fire lines are holding and being strengthened. Those evacuated from La Cienega and Ellison Creek Estates (between Bonita Creek/Tonto Village) have been allowed back into their homes.

Less and less smoke each day below the Rim, but travel restrictions are still in effect. I worry about some areas effected by this fire, but those concerns will only be shared via trusted PM's.

I headed up to the mountains today and pondered where to fish. I decided to head somewhere new. I looked at the fire info and the place I was going to fish looked okay. Ran into this and a forest guy who said they merged the two fires (Bear and Highline). Regardless...this fire is much bigger then I first thought! Double check fire closures before heading out. EDIT. The map I posted is the closure.

Per both the Coconino and A-S NF websites, there are no closures or travel restrictions for Chevy.

The only Restriction found involves Level II Fire Restrictions, which basically says no open flame of any kind and smoking is allowed only inside your vehicle. I guess one could light up on the water if the need arose...